Dump it or let it ride?

Moved into a smaller apartment recently and decided I didn't have the room to brew at my place. Set everything up at my paren'ts house and did a Tripel earlier this week. I have them check on it once a day or so and give me some info on what the airlock is doing, temp, etc... Well I got to check on it in person toniight and at somepoint int he last 24 hours the airlock got clogged and the top blew off the bucket.

Surprisingly enough it looks like very little beer left the bucket (no splatter in the closet, etc.. ) What are the odds the beer avoided infection being essentially open in a closet for anywhere between 1-24 hours?

You have nothing to lose by letting it ride and seeing what the end result will be, theres always time to dump it if necessary.

My thoughts are. Since it was still in the early stages of fermentation there was enough co2 still being created to keep air from creeping in. Along with that with it being in the closet there shouldn't have been to much air circulation to force any bugs into the fermenter.

My opinion is let er ride. There are plenty of people that do open fermentations, and have success. On the other side there are plenty of times where sanitation and the like can be executed perfectly and still end up with an infection.

If it isn't showing any signs of problems yet. Don't dump it. Let the fermentation cycle finish then taste the beer. Thats the only time you will know.

ruger988 said:

What are the odds the beer avoided infection being essentially open in a closet for anywhere between 1-24 hours?

Click to expand...

Pretty dam good. Don't worry, there is very little risk while active fermentation is going on.

Anytime I have doubts about my beer I still let it ride. The end result is what matters. If you dump it you don't know if it was good or bad. At least if you wait then you can be sure it was ok or not ok.

I'd shoot the parents though. Slackers !!!!

Facinerous said:

If it isn't showing any signs of problems yet. Don't dump it. Let the fermentation cycle finish then taste the beer. Thats the only time you will know.

Click to expand...

What would be some possible signs of problems at this point? There was beer in the bucket and Kraussen still looked good, not sure what else I would be able to see? Haha.

Thanks to all of you for reassuring me that I'm probably good. I really need to figure out a better solution to my space issue. I do have room for fermentation at my place, would anyone recommend travelling with wort to my apartment, pitching yeast there then travelling back to bottle (about 20 minutes down winding back roads each way.) I may even be able to find a way to bottle at my place and cut it down to one pre-fermentation trip down the road...

Thanks again!

soccerdad said:

I'd shoot the parents though. Slackers !!!!

Click to expand...

It crossed my mind

Let it ride. Like others have said, it's the end result that matters. If you dump before you know the end result (based on a thought that it could be bad), you may be missing out on a great beer.

In theory if the fermenter id's sealed well enough then I couldn't see any reason that traveling could cause am issue as long as the temperature wasn't to high before you pitch the yeast. Not sure I'd want to risk the effort though. You could try building a gravity unit that fits in a corner of your apartment though if you could spare the space. No travel needed.

No brainer - let it ride.

Next time insert blow off tube :fro:

Let it ride. Unlikely contamination. I wouldn't blame the parents though. Blowoff tube is a standard on a tripel.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

There should be no problem at all taking the wort home with you. You could even throw a seatbelt around the carboy. If you do I would go through the whole process and pitch the yeast before the ride anyway. Sloshing the wort around won't hurt anything. Plus it takes a bit for fermentation to begin anyway.

I will just say. I've done it during a move, no problem.

Only reason I'd say pitch after the ride is to be sure you aren't transporting beer around in a location that could have a high ambient temperature. Especially if you are trying to brew a beer with a low fermentation temp required. That's my opinion anyhow. No need to shock your yeast during transport.